In Zach Cregger’s latest horror movie “Weapons,” the writer-director delivers another twisted tale that’s as jaw-droppingly bloody as his 2022 sleeper hit “Barbarian.”
The film takes place in a sleepy Pennsylvania town where, one night, 17 children all suddenly rise from their beds at 2:17 am, go out their front doors, and run away into the night. No one has seen them since.
With the town on edge, elementary school teacher Justine (Julia Garner) realizes something all the kids who vanished have in common: they were all in her class. Only one child, Alex (Cary Christopher), didn’t disappear.
Archer (Josh Brolin), one parent whose child has vanished, demands answers and believes Justine has them. When he’s not following her around town and painting “Witch” on her car, he’s studying Ring doorbell camera footage from the houses of the kids who ran off in an attempt to triangulate a path they might have taken.
In one scene, as Archer confronts Justine at a gas station, Andrew (Benedict Wong), the principal at Justine’s school, appears out of nowhere covered in blood and sprints toward her, attacking her. Archer is able to fight him off of Justine, and she runs away. Andrew later gets hit by a car while chasing Justine. Archer realizes the way Andrew ran was exactly like the way the children ran when he saw them in the doorbell footage.
Archer tells Justine his theory that all the kids were running to the same area of town, and shows her their path on a map. Justine realizes that their route leads to Alex’s house.
Now things get really bizarre
“Weapons” is told in small vignettes focused on the main characters: Justine, Archer, Alex, Andrew, and Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a cop who has a fling with Justine.
Through these, we learn of Alex’s aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), an elderly woman who wears a red wig, colorful clothes, and too much red lipstick. She comes to Alex’s house with a small tree that looks like it has dead branches. It’s revealed near the end of the movie that it’s some kind of voodoo tree: when Gladys puts some of her blood on a branch and wraps somebody’s belongings or hair around it, that person goes under her spell once she breaks the branch and rings a small bell.
After putting Alex’s parents under her spell, she tells Alex to send her the belongings of all 17 of his classmates. She is the one responsible for the kids’ disappearance. Gladys, who tells Alex she’s ill, believes the children will make her better. They have all been in Alex’s basement ever since.
Justine and Archer come to Alex’s house hoping to find answers. They are welcomed by Paul, who also stumbled upon what Gladys was doing from a tip from a drug addict. Both Paul and the addict are now under her spell.
The bloody ending all goes down at Alex’s house
Once Justine and Archer are in the house, Paul and the addict attack them. Upstairs, Alex’s parents chase after him. Justine kills Paul with his own gun and then shoots the addict. Archer discovers the children in the basement, but then is put under Gladys’ spell. She makes him go after Justine.
During all the chaos, Alex takes Gladys’ voodoo tree, locks himself in the bathroom, and uses a branch to make up his own spell. He has the 17 kids in the basement go after Gladys.
Gladys realizes what’s happening and runs out of the house; the 17 kids burst through the front door and windows after her. Gladys runs through neighboring houses and yards, and the kids ram through doors and windows chasing her. They finally catch up to her in a front yard and tear her apart, limb from limb. Gladys screams in anguish until her jaw is ripped from her face.
With Gladys dead, the spell Archer was under is broken. He goes to find his son among the kids surrounding Gladys’ remains.
Justine goes upstairs to find Alex hugging his parents. Though they are no longer under Gladys’ spell, they are not themselves. Archer’s son is also in a glazed-over state.
The movie ends with a child’s voiceover explaining that though the 17 kids are back with their families, most of them haven’t returned to their normal selves.
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